Week 1: 'Fifty-Two Weeks of Naruto Fanfic!
by AFriendlyNeighborhoodDog2
Summary: Hiya ! 'Friendly here! This is my 'Fifty-Two Weeks of Naruto Fanfic series. It's a collection OneShot fanfiction that are separated into different stories, all with their own genres and storylines. This Week's OneShot: To End the War; Genres: Adventure, Drama, Romance. I'll post artwork that I copy myself every week, so tune in!


Hey guys! This is my Fifty-Two Weeks of Naruto Fanfic series! As for The actual writing, expect some shit before you get to the good stuff.

Now for the story… heh, here we go!

XXX

_This week's story title -_** To End the War**

**Notable traits:** _Alternate-Universe_

XXX

It was in the days of war that the dismal faces of the reserves camp seemed to be cheerless as always. Men were playing cards with their pocket change, not looking any different until one of them looked like he had a good hand. He hadn't had a good hand all day. He was actually losing money. It almost looked like… no, it couldn't be. Hm, maybe it was a straight; just one card was obscured by the back of his thumb. He moved it.

"Damnit! I fold." said the brown-haired man.

"So is life." said the man who took his small amount of earnings.

The brown-haired man was given his next hand, and then dreaded that he had obscured the bottom card with his hand. It looked like a royal flush…

"Hmm…" he said.

"Good hand? Better raise. I know I am." said the man who had taken the pot from before.

"Hello, boys! Oh… and, Iruka-sensei-" said a new voice. The girl was a short blond who wore a Konoha flak jacket with her hair tied back in a long ponytail.

"Ino… how are you?" said Iruka, our holder of the mysterious hand.

"Fine…oh, and is that a royal flush?" (Iruka had moved his hand and Ino had loomed over his shoulder. With the calling of cards, the other 3 immediately folded their hands.) "Anyway, Shikaku wants to talk to you. He said something about taking you and Rin out of the reserves."

"Wait… hold up; I'm the reserve's only normal war planner right now. And then Rin's a med nin! We can't-"

"Talk to him, Iruka… maybe he'll have something to say."

She winked at him; he had no idea what that meant.

Iruka had a secret; he couldn't tell if he loved or wanted Rin to like him in a sense. He had always been so undefined with her. When they would train and make bloody messes out of themselves, it was always Rin who took the time to heal him. The Nohara was kind and gentle, much like he was; her nature was almost like a small fire warming him up on a cold night. The problem was that he felt like he was getting too close to a fire waiting to burn him. It was all because of Kakashi, Rin's infatuation that she loves to live near so dearly. Kakashi had been a good friend, but war had ended that; his loss will always be remembered. (And there's always the age difference. She was nearly 4 years older than him.)

XXX

Later, within the meeting tent…

"Alright… so we're supposed to deliver a message to the Kazekage? Have we sent word? Is he suspecting such a message?" said Rin worriedly. "How will we get behind enemy lines?"

Iruka was sitting at the table where the war meetings took place with Rin standing close behind him. Most of the top tacticians were there. Because of this, Iruka felt right out of place as he always was when he was called to these meetings. It was all because the big cheeses were there. The Third and his advisers (the Fourth was protecting the fort back at home) were sitting across from them, while Inoichi and Shikaku were sitting at the ends of the table. The other 2 chairs beside him were vacant as the 2 battle tacticians that still were left were out on the field, their chairs obviously reserved.

"Well, yes; but not from us. We intercepted letters from an unnamed source and have been writing modified letters to the Kazekage ever since. As for the letters, they have not stopped coming, meaning the unnamed source has not suspected a thing. These letters are classified only to the Tacticians, so Rin, if you will." said the third; he smiled dearly at her.

Iruka was passed the documents as Rin left. Soon, as Iruka read through the letters, he felt more and more anxious. Then, when he had reached the end, he was astonished. "You mean…?"

"Yes, but do not tell Rin. She will be discouraged to take the mission." said the Hokage dryly.

"Okay… but why do you need me? Is it because-" said Iruka with a tense smile. He couldn't...

"Iruka, your perceptive echolocation powers are a necessity because your powers thrive in the desert. Just think. A wide open space; you can hear the wind whistle from miles away. This is your day of reckoning. You will be seen as the one that ended the war everywhere."

"But there's a big chance-" he stammered, "You realize this could be-"

"This is not. We have seen this though numerous times." said Inoichi, "Please, take the mission."

Iruka nodded.

XXX

It was beyond the border between the desert and the land of rivers that they entered in on salamander-back and made it 3 days into the desert.

"Wait, hold on." said Iruka. He had not noticed before… he didn't even think about looking in the air. "Rin! Watch out!"

Rin was nearly smashed by what looked to be… sand? Dust? No… it can't be that kekkei touta. Someone was controlling some form of circle of _something_ from above, firing fists of what looks to be compacted dirt as hard as a rock. Rin and Iruka dodged as much as they could until they both were slammed into each other by two compounding fists. Soon, they had blacked out.

XXX

They awoke somewhere dank. Many Konoha ninja that were being held as captives surrounded them. Iruka only knew of this place as one; jail.

He looked around to find Rin. They must have been tight on space, so they put her with him. Either that or they think it doesn't matter that they could have relations while in jail. This was obviously the worst outcome that they could ever have expected. Rin soon woke up, dazed.

"Huh? Iruka, what's going on?"

Iruka looked to her, disheartened. "I think we're in jail… there are bars and other prisoners and everything! Who attacked us?"

"Jail?" she said drearily. She started crying…

Iruka had to do something. He arose from his place upon the ground and banged the bars angrily, "Hey! What about our Mission; what about the truce! We were supposed to put a diplomatic end to the war!"

He heard many broken spirits that littered the cages mock him, saying things like, "What are you talking about? There's no truce!" and "Go cry wolf somewhere else." and "Yeah!"

That's when Iruka walked back to his wall and laid down shady-eyed. "Rin, are you alright?" he said gloomily as he looked up to her with a frown.

"Y-Yes… I'm fine…" she then went to grasp her neck. Rin looked shocked; she couldn't help but start to cry into her hands.

"What? Rin, what's the matter?" he said, looking surprised. She wiped her eyes, looking to he left with her index pointing to her chest. He noticed that the silver, heart-shaped locket with her and Kakashi's picture was gone right off her neck. "Oh… no... I'm so… sorry" said Iruka

Right now, anything seemed like a tragedy for him. Although it was her locket that went missing, he felt like it was his problem and he had to fix it. That locket meant everything to Rin. He couldn't feel any other emotion than sadness over what she had said to be was a part of Kakashi. And that made him wonder…

"Rin… I know that locket meant a lot to you, but please, let me say something." said Iruka.

She nodded aggressively. "Whatever you're going to say, say it." snapped Rin, "Tell me that I'm stupid, that I was wrong for ever believing in the hope that this war would end. I've lost 2 great people in my life; and all I want is to rejoin them. They can't just keep us here, right? They're going to kill us when one side takes it. We're on the losing side, okay Iruka? There's no hope!"

"My dream…"

"Is dashed, right? There's..."

Iruka pulled out a copy of the treaty written on a piece of paper. He made a 'shh'-ing noise and reassured her after reading the expression on her face, saying, "That's what you think it is."

"It… is? But how will we get it to the Kazekage?"

"We'll gain the trust of one of the guards; don't worry,"

"So, there is hope… but what about my locket?"

"You don't need a locket to know that he's still right there inside of you. Honestly; you won't forget someone you saw die in the last war. People just don't forget loved ones. Iwa's forces are weak. If we can get this to the Kazekage, Iwa will fold. As for your pride, always know that people are counting on us to get this to him. It could take years, and many lives would be lost, but the pain of losing them is just not as much as the pain of losing more. Let's just hope and pray to Kami that this will work."

Rin nodded.

XXX

3 months had passed since Rin Nohara and Iruka Umino had been in the prison cell. The two had grown quite fond of each other, swearing that once they get out, that they would start spending more time with each other and maybe even start a family if they were desperate enough for each other. They spoke in tales of what went on in their old daily lives, starting with a new day every day from the time they were born to the time that they had been captured. They had learned so much about each other; it was amazing the detail they would go into. Now it comes time to face Rin's 27th birthday, and she would be spending it in a prison cell. Iruka then thought of something. One day, when Rin was sleeping in, Iruka called their possible candidate for their freedom over to the cell. This prison was by far the best person he had seen so far running the prisons; she was more than trustworthy. Her name was Maiyami and she was the top human resource officer. She was not to be taken lightly, being the head honcho. The good thing about her was that Iruka saw that she wanted to end the war, too. Maiyami had even expressed that she wanted it to end when they brought them their lunch one day.

"Maiyami, can you take this to the Kazekage whenever you can?" Iruka asked her, she nodded.

"Anything for you; I assume it's important?"

See? Their relationship was so good that Maiyami would agree to anything that Iruka said.

"It's a copy of the treaty that we were supposed to deliver. Deliver it to him immediately." said Iruka. She didn't take the note, even when he urged her.

"What if he refuses?" she whispered.

"Why would he? Iwa's weak, this is our chance to end this diplomatically!" said Iruka, getting angrier and angrier by the minute with her.

"Well, I'll bring it to him on November the 15th. That's when the next war meeting is. I'll be there, and there will be plenty of people who will agree with our plan." said Maiyami finally taking the note.

"Alright."

"Hey, Maiyami, come back over here. I hope you're done telling him his unfortunate fate!" said one of the male guards.

Maiyami spoke to Iruka one last time; "Iruka. Watch your head… I think the Kazekage is going to end your life soon. I can't stop anything that happens before then, but I can help you on November 15. Before then I'm almost powerless because I know the Kazekage will say no. Again, watch your head."

Iruka gulped and nodded.

XXX

Rin awoke in the night to hear two guards talking outside her cell. "Hey, did you get the date for the next decapitation? I love seeing their heads roll, the Konoha Pansies!"

Rin was used to this kind of talk. She soon tried to go back to sleep, trying to feel sorry for her lost brethren.

"Hey, speaking of that, I think it's tomorrow! Some guy with a hidden jutsu on a scroll that held a treaty is due to lose his head. It's pretty dumb to think that those Konoha Pansies could best our Kazekage. Kazekage-sama killed Maiyami right on the spot."

Moments after registering the conversation, Rin's eyes burst open. She saw Iruka, sitting there, looking at her. He said, "I'm sorry."

"Now we won't have to deal with her bitchy-ass anymore."

When the two guards looked to be out of earshot, the two started to talk.

"You gave it to Maiyumi, didn't you? You shouldn't have… you should have waited." said Rin, looking to him like she was going to sob and also sounding as so. Rin stood up and walked over toward him. "You should have told me…"

She sat down and curled up next to him. "I know." said Iruka tearlessly as he nodded squinty-eyed, "I have to be strong."

"You realize I don't want to lose another person in this mess we call war, do you?" Rin said, "I won't accept this, I won't!"

"I'm sorry. I've accepted our fate." said Iruka, "There is nothing that can be done now… I screwed myself entirely. I'm sorry I can't be here for you, now."

"I'll never forget you. I will rejoin you and Kakashi one day…" she looked up to him, "Just know that I will always love you, no matter what."

"I know Rin, I know."

They gave one last kiss and hug good-bye.

XXX

Epilogue

Unfortunately, Iruka dies in the end. Rin gets released when the war ended. She runs away to a distant land where she starts a family, never revealing herself as a ninja ever again. In the end, Rin is broken and eventually kills herself when she finds out that both the Earth Village and Sand Village allied and laid waste to the Leaf Village. They had killed everyone who stood in their way, even Rin's old sensei the Fourth Hokage. Rin never again felt any pain, and the world soon descended into chaos and relapsed back into war again soon afterward.


End file.
